Accursed Fate
by Invader Mel
Summary: A girl enters class, and looks depressed. One day she cries during her lunchtime, and Dib tries to console her. She only snaps. When he finally finds out what the problem is, it will change his life. PG13 because it's sad with death. I'm overly cautious.
1. Monday the 13th

Chapter One: Monday the 13th  
  
The new girl had been in class for a week now, and Dib still couldn't get it. She always looked like she was about to attend the funeral of a lost loved one, for she was constantly stifling tears. During recess, he decided to ask someone about it. He ended up asking one of the moderately popular people, and the only response he got was, "She's just like that. Another weirdo." At just that moment a bully snatched him from behind and began to pound on him.  
  
It wasn't until lunch that Dib realized something: She was all alone. Not one person got near her. The other kids seemed to snub her. Just like him. There was no explaining it. Usually the other children at least tried to welcome them into their group, unless there was some feature about them that made them point or laugh. This new girl, Val was her name, had no such forbidding appearance.  
  
As a matter of fact, Dib noted, she looked quite striking and mysterious. Her dark red hair hung down just below her shoulders in tight curls and her face, surprisingly, had no make-up whatsoever. She wore no nail polish, no lip stick, no jewelry, and her glasses were plain, ordinary glasses that bore a large frame. Perhaps that was it. Maybe they didn't like her because of the glasses. All the same Dib felt that she looked exceptional.  
  
'But no,' Dib thought, 'when a person was unpopular strictly because of glasses, they weren't just ignored, but teased unceasingly. That couldn't be it.'  
  
Her dress was average, to him anyway. Just a plain white short sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Despite this, there was something about her that made him perceive her as salient. Then, without warning, she buried her head into her hands and wept. No one stopped to see what was wrong. Everyone merely continued as if she wasn't there at all. What could she have done to make everyone abhor her so?  
  
Dib made up his mind: He was going to see what was wrong. "Val? Val, are you all right?"  
  
"Leave me alone! Haven't you harmed me enough? It's hard enough to bear without your false sympathy!"  
  
"False sympathy? I want to know what the problem is. I want to comfort you."  
  
"Yeah right! No one wants to comfort me! No one even cares about me! If someone would for once not deem me crazy just because I've been abducted by aliens!"  
  
"What?! Abducted by aliens?"  
  
"Go ahead, laugh and have your fun! I'll just be sitting here and depressing on my life!"  
  
"I don't want to laugh at you! I believe you."  
  
"You do? How? No one else does."  
  
"I believe in aliens."  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yes," Dib sat down next to her, "Aliens like Zim."  
  
"You mean you know that he's an...?"  
  
"That's what I was going to ask you."  
  
"You have no idea how wonderful that is...wait, what's your name?"  
  
"Dib."  
  
"Hello Dib. I am glad to have made your acquaintance."  
  
"Me too. Val, I can guess why kids make fun of you; it's the same reason as I. But how do the kids here know?"  
  
"During lunch of my first day, I told the kids my interests in the paranormal. They laughed me right out of the cafeteria."  
  
"I know what that's like. The same thing happened to me. I'm awfully sorry."  
  
"Thanks. It's nice to have someone to be there. Someone who knows what it's like. In a word...a friend."  
  
"A friend? I've never had a friend."  
  
"I guess that means that this is the first for both of us."  
  
"Thank you. I always wanted a friend." The bell rang at just that instant. "I'll see you in class."  
  
"See you." They walked to class and spent the rest of the skool day there. After class, Dib approached Val. "Yes Dib?"  
  
"Do you want me to walk you home?"  
  
"Sure. That's very kind of you to offer."  
  
"Thanks. Wait just a second; I have to tell Gaz not to wait for me."  
  
"Okay." Dib ran outside to where Gaz was waiting impatiently.  
  
"Gaz, go on ahead without me. I'm walking Val home." She left gladly, and Dib spiraled about to see Val there, smiling sweetly. "Okay, you'll have to tell me where you live. I don't really know."  
  
"Sure." They walked around the streets for a while, and when they reached her house, they discovered that it was right next to Dib's.  
  
"We live next-door! Wow! I'll see you tomorrow!"  
  
"I'll see you too!"  
  
"Goodbye Val!"  
  
"Goodbye Dib!" They swung their doors shut in glee and ran up into their rooms. It was later that night when Dib was listening for signals from space on the roof when he caught another kind of signal. It was of terrestrial origin.  
  
"Hello? Hello? Is there anyone out there?" the voice persisted, "Please tell me. I finally met someone who I truly like. He seems really great. His name is Dib. Everyone misunderstands him, just as I am misunderstood. I hate being alone, and I love being with someone. Ever since Mom and Dad left me here, it's been so hard. I don't like being abandoned, but I've seen the conditions at local orphanages. It's terrible! I'd almost rather be locked in an insane asylum as I've been threatened to. But at least with my friend Dib, I won't be alone. I will be with someone. I will have a friend.  
  
"But still, I'd love to hear from other worlds and how life is there. Sometimes it makes me feel at home and loved. Val here, over and out."  
  
"Val? Val, it's me, Dib! Where are you?"  
  
"On my roof. But Dib, how long have you been listening?" she spoke into her transmitter.  
  
"I heard everything from 'hello' to 'over and out.' I'm so sorry about what you said. I really do appreciate you, and I hope you can be happy."  
  
"So long as you're there, Dib. So long as I'm not alone. And that's the only thing that's kept me sane - the fact that I know that I'm not alone, whether on this world or in this galaxy."  
  
"Val, is there anything I can do?"  
  
"Can you come over? I'm very lonely."  
  
"I'd be glad to. I'll be there as soon as I can." Dib removed his gear and shut the equipment off. He then climbed off his own roof and onto Val's. "Hi Val. How are you?"  
  
"I'm okay. It's a good thing that you're here, or I don't think I would be."  
  
"Val?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Don't ever feel like you're alone. You're not."  
  
"I won't. Lie down, won't you?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"The stars are lovely tonight."  
  
"You're right," Dib lay down beside her and they stared at the stars.  
  
"You know what that planet's called?"  
  
"Yeah. It's Jupiter."  
  
"What about that one?"  
  
"That's Mars. See how it looks reddish?"  
  
"Yes. Yes, I do. Thanks for coming here."  
  
"You're welcome. It was really my pleasure though."  
  
"That's kind of you to say that. But do you really mean it?"  
  
"Of course, Val. Look, the moon."  
  
"What about it?"  
  
"You should know how radiant you look underneath its light."  
  
"Well, thank you! That's a huge compliment! I've never been called radiant in my entire life!"  
  
"Really? I don't see how anyone could miss it."  
  
"That's just flattery now."  
  
"I'm serious. You're prettier than anyone I've ever met. Val, you're stunning!"  
  
"Oh my gosh! No one's called me stunning before!"  
  
"You are, though." Val let her head fall into Dib's shoulders as she sobbed.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe I just...miss my parents."  
  
"So do I, Val, so do I."  
  
"You lost your parents too?"  
  
"My mom. Last time I saw my dad in person was two months ago."  
  
"You lost both of them?"  
  
"No. My dad just works all the time. I wish I could see him, or talk to him. I haven't had a real conversation with anyone for as long as I can remember. Except with you. But my mom...she just disappeared. Just like that. I never saw her again. The last words I heard from her... I remember word for word what she said to me. She said, 'You're my special shining star, and if no one believes you, look back at what you've really accomplished.'"  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
"She told me that she loved me with all her heart and nothing could prevent it, especially not others' opinions of me."  
  
"That's very good of her to say that. And it's true. You shouldn't forget that."  
  
"I won't. Val, what happened with your parents?"  
  
"It was a long time ago, when I was only one or two. They just left, without saying or doing anything. I don't even know if Val is my real name or not. I have no clue what my last name is. I don't know anything about them, or why they left, or if they're even alive anymore. I always pray that I'll see them again sometime."  
  
"That's so sad. I'm truly sorry. I don't know if my Mom's alive or not either. All I know is that she's gone, and I'll probably never see her for the rest of my life."  
  
"It's okay, Dib. Everything will be okay. I've raised myself for a few years now. It's not so bad. And besides, you've got your dad. And you've got me. We're friends now, so we'll be together. We'll never be alone, ever again."  
  
"Thank you, Val. You've cheered me up."  
  
"So have you." They hugged each other and cried, this time for happiness. 


	2. Tuesday the 14th

Chapter Two: Tuesday the 14th  
  
The lunch bell clanged, signifying the start of lunch. Val sat straight across from Dib, as she had since the day before. Ever since they met on the roof they had felt a special connection for not really knowing their parents. "Hi Dib. Anything new on Zim?"  
  
"No. But I'm so glad that you're here. I have something I'd like to tell you. I just found it out yesterday. It concerns both you and I."  
  
"You can trust me."  
  
"I was looking through an old photo album from before Mom disappeared, and it showed you when you were a baby with two adults and our family. It seems the adults were your parents and friends of my mom. I know their names now, and we might be able to track them down."  
  
"Could we?! Dib, we must! I need to know why they left! I need to see them! This is the best thing you could ever do for me!"  
  
"I'm glad of it. Aren't you glad I spent last night researching this rather than infiltrating Zim's lab?"  
  
"You gave up all night...?"  
  
"Yeah. To me your happiness is worth a lifetime of my toiling."  
  
"Thank you, so much! No one has ever been so kind to me," Val had tears streaming down her face. "You're the best! Oh, thank you! I owe everything to you!"  
  
"In that case, do you want to maybe...go out to dinner with me?"  
  
"You're asking me out on a date?"  
  
"Well...yeah. I...like you. A lot."  
  
"Dib, this is so unexpected...and so soon! But how could I refuse? I accept."  
  
"And after we eat dinner, I'd like to go over to your house. I want to know what you do there all by yourself."  
  
"Usually I read. Or I write letters."  
  
"Who do you write letters to?"  
  
"My parents. Also aliens. Specific ones I know. As a matter of fact, you might get to meet one. They drop by sometimes. But don't worry, for they're thoroughly peaceful. I just know you'll like them! I've told them all about you. Especially last night. Last night I wrote out what I was going to say on a letter to my parents and then transmitted it to the stars so they could hear. I was hoping you'd hear the transmission, but I'll just show you the letter.  
  
"I told about how I thought I was falling in love, and that I have to constantly remind myself to be sensible so I am not blinded by emotion. I've been hurt once, and I could be hurt again. But I do think you're a good person. And I do think you truly like me."  
  
"That's good. Don't forget how enchanting you are though. The loveliest girl in the entire universe." Dib took Val's hand and kissed it. "I really do love you. With all my heart." He left and Val noticed that he had left without eating a bite of his food. Val took his tray and emptied it into the trashcan. After stuffing the remnants of her lunch back into her bag, she chased after him.  
  
"Dib? Dib, where'd you go?" She called out, and received only the echo of her voice in response. A stomping noise shook the skool as the multitude of unruly children clamored upon the deserted and filthy halls of the educational establishment. Though most of them proceeded to the playground, several popular girls remained. Out of pure curiosity, Val inquired of them, "Why aren't you going to play like the others?"  
  
"We've got other things planned."  
  
"What kinds of things?"  
  
"We're going to ditch skool. We're waiting for our ride. Want to come? If you stop hanging around that loser Dib and talking about aliens, we'll still let you be popular."  
  
"Yeah. We'll take you in. You can still save yourself when you're new," another added.  
  
"I want to have friends but..." Val thought back to the night on the roof and how Dib had been there for her.  
  
"Hurry. They'll be here soon."  
  
"No. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Dib's my friend, and I can't abandon him. Besides, I have a little crush on him."  
  
"You have a crush on DIB?!" The girls burst into a mocking cacophonic cackling and one of them pulled her by the arm.  
  
"Hey, look, she even LOOKS kind of like Dib!"  
  
"The same geeky smile!"  
  
"And those weird glasses!"  
  
"Oh my gosh! She has NO make-up!"  
  
"Look, her clothes cover her entire stomach! Can you BELIEVE that?" The girls shoved her around for a bit, and the girl who seemed to be the leader tugged her arm and dragged her along outside. The others followed.  
  
"I don't want to ditch skool! Let me go!"  
  
"Oh, you're ditching skool all right, and we're going to have A LOT of fun!"  
  
"No! You're not going to take me! Help! Someone!" One of the girls duct taped her mouth shut. Together the five of them dragged her outside of the skool and into a car outside. Val struggled when she realized the car was moving. Finally, she managed to get the duct tape off her mouth. "Where are we going?!"  
  
"Shut up, nerd! We're going someplace where they hurt people like you."  
  
"Don't you have consideration?! I lost my parents when I was two years old!"  
  
"And?"  
  
"And WHAT?!"  
  
"What's the big deal? No parents, no rules!"  
  
"Why do the crazy people get lucky, Jessica?"  
  
"Like, how am I supposed to know?"  
  
"You don't understand! I'm alone in this world! Except for Dib! That's why I want to be his friend! I don't LIKE being alone!"  
  
"Well, it's too late, geek! My boyfriend doesn't have mercy for nerds!" The car slowed down to a stop and the girls hauled Val out and into the house. There, they threw her onto the floor. "She actually has a crush on DIB!" the girl shouted to a boy who was apparently her boyfriend.  
  
"That weirdo?! She must really be crazy!" he laughed.  
  
"I'm not crazy!"  
  
"Well, why don't we teach this lunatic a lesson?"  
  
"NO! Leave me alone!"  
  
"I don't think so!" The boy twisted her arm backwards, causing her to scream out. She kicked him and ran out the door. The problem was, she didn't know where the skool was. Swerving around, she found Dib.  
  
"Dib?! What are you doing here?!"  
  
"I heard you scream at skool and followed you here. Skool's that way. I'll hold them off. I'm used to it."  
  
"No. No one deserves that. Come with me."  
  
"I have to stay."  
  
"I'm not going until you agree to go."  
  
"Okay, I'll go." As soon as they began to take off, the kids caught them and began to pummel them. The boy took Val aside and struck her on her face. "Ow! Leave me alone!"  
  
"Val! How dare you hit her?!" Dib charged at him and repeatedly punched him. "Stay away from Val! Don't get near her! You JERK!" He yelled a numerous amount of other things to the bully including curses and when he was through, the kid had a bloody nose and a bruised jaw.  
  
"Val! Are you okay?!" Dib turned his attention to Val. He propped her up off the asphalt in the street and held her in his arms.  
  
"Yes, I am okay."  
  
"Are you sure? Val, I was worried!"  
  
"So was I. But it's over. Let's get back to skool." Dib wrapped his arms around her and held her in a tight embrace. He lifted her up and carried her back to class. The children were too startled by the show to respond. All they did was stand there as the two happily treaded back to the skool site. 


	3. Wednesday the 15th

Chapter Three: Wednesday the 15th  
  
Dib sat beside Val in class, for yet another had been sent to the underground classroom. Suddenly, the snarl of Ms. Bitters resounded, and the students sat up to listen to what it was that she had to announce. "Class, next Friday is the hideous skool dance. Anyone attending will need to be there no later than 8:00 p.m. It lasts to 9:15, so you'd better have a ride, or else you're going to get locked up for the night!"  
  
Dib and Val held hands and smiled at each other. The secret was out; Val knew that Dib had been planning to ask her to the dance. So they both knew, and both looked forward to it. Zim watched them, knowing that something was different about the Dib-human that week. He didn't quite know what until he spotted that he kept holding hands with the new girl and always had that funny expression on his face.  
  
They enjoyed a talk together on the way home, and Dib grew more and more fond of her. Right down to the way she laughed, her company was always pleasant. He bid his goodbye to her, and they agreed upon meeting before skool to discuss their theories on Bigfoot. With Val there, he often forgot about Zim, to his astonishment, and thus got to concentrate on different avenues of paranormal phenomenon.  
  
Morning came quickly, and Dib anxiously awaited the moment he could step outside and greet the day with a smile from Val. He dressed hurriedly so as to be out as soon as possible in order for him to spend every moment possible with her. With a light-hearted leap, he jumped out the door and strolled next door to her house. A knock on the door and she would step out front. But she didn't.  
  
Dib waited a bit more before knocking again. Still no reply. Nearly a minute had passed. It never took that long for Val to answer. Two minutes passed. She always woke up hours before skool started. It would be impossible for her to sleep in this late. Aside from that, Dib had found her to be quite a light sleeper. Another minute. Dib began to panic. What could keep her from the door this long? He decided to try to bust the door open. To his surprise, it was unlocked. 'How unlike Val,' Dib thought, for he knew she believed adamantly in locking all doors and windows before retiring. And her memory was much sharper than his. She never would've forgotten to lock the front door.  
  
He walked in, and for the first time noticed how old the place looked. Dust covered all the furniture and squeaky boards were scattered throughout the floor like mines in a field. You never would know they were there unless you stepped upon one.  
  
"Val! Val, I'm here! Val?" It was dead quiet. Not one sound penetrated his ears except the occasional creak of a loose board. Not one sound. Always there was some kind of clatter, whether it was the droning hum of the laptop computer or the disquieted commotion of the animals in her terrarium. But not this time. "Val! Val, are you okay?"  
  
Dib carefully treaded up the stairs leading up to Val's room. He could sense that something was out of place, leaving a sinister atmosphere present in the surrounding environment. Swinging open the door, he gasped. Val was nowhere to be found. Her bed was disheveled and her room in shambles. An open window had blown a few leaves in from the tree just outside. "Val! Val!" Rushing to her dresser drawer, he found a note. It read:  
  
If you wish to see her alive, you will come up here, alone, midnight this Saturday.  
  
Dib crinkled the note in his hand, dropped it, and ran back to his house to call the police. Val didn't have a phone, for the most part because the house had been declared vacant long ago, and if there were a phone bill then people would begin to suspect something. Normally he would have hesitated in telephoning about her for this reason, but with Val's safety on the line, he had to risk it.  
  
Within minutes police cars were swarming the area. An officer questioned Dib on what he saw, but just when he thought he'd get a break from talking about it, a news reporter walked up to him.  
  
"How did you discover that she was missing?"  
  
"I went to meet her like she said, but...she wasn't there."  
  
"Were you friends?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Are you sad?"  
  
"What do you think?! Of course I'm sad! And worried! My only friend gets kidnapped, and you just stand there and ask me a bunch of stupid questions! What are you thinking?! Just leave me alone!" He ran to Val's house, climbed up onto the roof, and reminisced about the night he had gone there to comfort her, when she was so alone. Only now he was the one who needed comforting.  
  
  
  
It was about 7:00 p.m., and the police were still investigating the site. Dib was in his room, staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, breathed a sigh, and thought about Val. The way they had met, her thinking he was just another kid out to make fun of her. Their realization that they had finally met someone who knew what it was like to be alone. And now, he was alone again. More alone than before. A million thoughts and memories raced across his mind like a dozen bolts of lightning striking his very brain with a ferocious force. He would do anything for her to come back alive.  
  
He never had really been much of an artist, but he began to draw a picture of Val. It was actually a pretty good one, and it resembled her very much. Dib held it dearly, for he didn't have a photograph of Val except for the one when she was about two years old in. When he thought about it, Val probably didn't have any photographs of herself.  
  
One predominating question was this: Why would anyone take her? Hardly anyone knew about her. He had missed skool that day. Off hand, he really didn't care. For one, they never learned anything except about how they were all doomed, and secondly, with Val gone, he wouldn't be able to do any work anyway. For as long as she would be gone, he vowed never to go to skool again. He wouldn't be able to handle the sight of her empty desk. 'Val,' he thought, 'please be all right. Please. Please come back so it will be like you weren't ever gone.'  
  
Dib picked up a UFO magazine and flipped through it. He dropped it uninterestedly to the floor. Right now he didn't really care about the mysteries of the universe. All he cared about was one mystery - Val. Where was she? Was she all right? Would he ever see her again? They had felt some special connection. A special bond, as if they somehow were spiritually one. It seemed too much to be a coincidence. She had a skilled mind that could pick up when he was sad or hurt. He wondered if he had that same ability.  
  
Dib got up out of his bed, though it was hard for him to drag himself out of his room, and stepped outside. It was twilight, and he breathed in the cool air. A certain presence it was he sensed that gave him the courage to do what he was about to do. He had to find Val, no matter what. And he had a pretty good idea of who might've taken her. 


	4. Thursday the 16th - midnight

Chapter Four: Thursday the 16th - midnight  
  
  
  
It was dark, and the clouds cast shadows over the creepy lawn gnomes and animal fish of which were scattered upon the front yard of the alien's residence. It was about three days before the green 'kid' really expected to see him, and in a completely different location. Before coming in, he looked in through the window. Zim looked a little beat up, and Val was there, just standing. She didn't look defiant, or angry, or sad, or anything. She was completely expressionless. It was as if she were hypnotized.  
  
And she was. It occurred to Dib that Zim had hypnotized her somehow, and seemed to be lecturing her about something that wasn't audible to him. Without another moment's hesitation, he broke the door down and took Val by the arm, dragging her away from Zim.  
  
"What?!" Zim could say no more, but instead he tackled Dib, allowing for Val to fall to the ground. As she was under a trance, she couldn't break her fall. She hit her head against the television screen, causing her to be knocked out. Immediately Dib rushed to her aid, while Zim seized the opportunity to grab a ray gun and point it at him. Even so, he refused to leave Val there, who had blood spilling out her head.  
  
"Are you going to kill her if I leave her?" he asked timidly.  
  
"I'll let you find that out."  
  
"N-no. Y-you aren't killing her. I-I'm not leaving her."  
  
"So you'd prefer to die?"  
  
"Yes. Please, help her. Sh-she needs to get to a hospital."  
  
"Any last words?"  
  
"Tell Val I love her." Dib hugged Val goodbye and faced Zim awaiting his death. He shot the laser, knocking him off his feet. Val awoke from unconsciousness, and looked to her right, where Dib had fallen. His eyes were barely open, and Val knew what had just occurred.  
  
"Zim," she muttered the name as a curse, "I vow that if he doesn't live, I will kill you in the most painful way I can imagine possible." She tried to wake him up, but it was to no avail.  
  
"It's no use," Zim stated coldly, "He's dead, stinky human-worm monkey!"  
  
"That doesn't mean I can't try! You killed him! I can't believe you killed him!" Val lifted his head up, and checked his pulse. There was none. She began to cry, and carried Dib out of the door. About twenty minutes later, she arrived at his house and set him in his bed. She tucked him under the covers, kissed him on the cheek, and then sobbed. Picking up the fallen magazine from before, she looked at the drawing he had absentmindedly stuck in there of her. A tear-stained message was there as well:  
  
'To Val, if you can hear me, I pray you're alive and I can see you again. I love you, and I want you to know I'm thinking of you. To the very end.  
  
Love, Dib'  
  
Val looked back at Dib, and imagined him writing the message and making the tear splotches. She thought about his last moments, giving himself up for her, and about how much he had given up for her. Everything from his time to his life. There would be a funeral for him, and she would be there, but it wouldn't be enough. Nothing would be enough for her, not even getting her revenge on Zim. For her, she would always be both haunted and blessed by the memory of the one whom she had cared for so much, just as she knew his spirit would be as living as his love had been for her.  
  
  
  
Note: I know, I write awfully sad stories . I'm posting a sequel to this where Val seeks her revenge against Zim. Thank you in advance, whether you review or just enjoy my story. After all, that is my ultimate satisfaction in writing. 


End file.
